BUNER:(NADER KHAN) The scenic Buner valley presents a devastating look, with peeling houses, fallen power transmission lines, ruined Bazars, and damaged educational infrastructure, which will need the generous support of international donor agencies and climate organizations to start the rehabilitation work in the area to restore the routine life of the people.
In this hour of grief, only Al-Khidmat Foundation was the only welfare organisation which have actively participated in the relief activities. Their workers are reaching the far-flung areas of the district to provide food and non-food items to the affected families. They are also removing hurdles in major roads and arteries which affected due to flood and heavy rain.
President Al-Khidmat Foundation, Buner Akbar Khan, said that International Donor organizations must come forward to play an active role in the relief and rehabilitation activities. He said that after this phase, the next phase will need huge funds to restore the infrastructure of Buner.
Leaders and elected representatives of the area are worried about the large-scale destruction of the cloud burst, which caused an unprecedented flood in the mountainous areas of the district, where all the access roads and communication systems were destroyed in minutes.
The federal government have not released any funds and has left the people at the mercy of the provincial government, which is already facing a shortage of resources. The flood has badly damaged the entire infrastructure of the district and will need a huge amount of funds to completely recover from this devastating calamity.
The areas which need urgent attention include Beshoni village, Koot village, Bar Gookand, Kot Dara, Pirbaba Bazar and its surrounding localities. The people in Koot Dara and Beshoni village are still searching for their loved ones in the debris, as a large number of people are still missing due to a lack of heavy machinery.
In terms of infrastructure, power transmission lines, telecommunication systems, education infrastructure, and business centers were badly affected by the flood, which will take time to restore. The people were mostly depending on foreign labour, but most of the Gulf countries have made the visa process difficult, which requires a huge money to travel abroad.
The people were already facing a shortage of resources and severe unemployment, and this tragedy has further multiplied their problems.
Local activist of Falahi Tanzeem Bagra Muhammad Akhtar said that the people are very cooperative and they are sending household items like utensils and blankets for the affected families. Though the people are poor but they are still fully cooperating with Falahi Tanzeem and sending their donations to the flood-affected families.
He said that after Beshoni and Pirbaba villages, the most affected area is Koot and Gookand, where people are still searching for the dead bodies. He said that the government and international donor organizations should come forward to work for the rehabilitation and reconstruction of the affected areas.
Zafar Ali, another activist of Welfare Organisation, said that they need the support of international donors to reconstruct their schools, markets, and repair power transmission lines, which were badly damaged in the devastating flood.
The flood has caused a loss of billions of rupees in Buner, which it difficult for the provincial government to overcome the losses. The federal government should also release funds, as only statements in these hours of trouble would disappoint the affected families. Though member of the National Assembly Barrister Gohar, MPA Riaz Khan and Fakhar Jehan visited the affected areas and assured the affected families of their full cooperation.
Read more: Buner floods submerge Pir Baba Market, cut power; two die in lightning strike
